battlestar galactica themes

Battlestar Galactica season 3 has just ended and before I start THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS HERE. If you haven't seen ANY episodes it is probably best to not read any further and just go out and buy yourself the mini-series.

What a show. It actually is the best thing on television right now IMO. And I'm not a tub-thumping sci-fi geek either (well maybe a little ;) but what this show has is guts and intelligence. It is superbly written and brilliantly acted. And it has everything you could want in a show: love, action and drama.

Set in a distant galaxy there is a popluation of humans living on twelve planets named after our star signs, for example Caprica or Saggitaron. Each world has it's own set of beliefs and culture yet all are human and all speak English it would seem. As this species of human progress in their technological abilities they are able to create an artificially intelligent robot called the cylon who is supposed to work as a slave race to this people of man. But the cylons evolve and soon break off and a war erupts. The human race is ultimately successful and the cylons remove themselves to a far off world and no one hears of them for forty years. And this is where the new series of Battlestar Galactica starts off. Human memory of the cylons is fading. Their guard is down. What they have failed to realize is that the cylons have infiltrated earth at its very core having developed the ability to build new cylons in the form of humans. This infiltration leads to the biggest shut-down in these twelve planet's defences and ultimately to the surprise attack by the cylons on all twelve worlds. These attacks are deadly and all planets are nuked with only Caprica having a few survivors left. It is aboard the aging ship the Battlestar Galactica that a commander who is just about to retire had the mean task of leading a group of ships away from the devastating blows the cylons have generated. His ship was not networked to the fleet (him being a little 'old' fashioned) so the computer virus that spread through the rest of the fleet did not strike his. And so his crew flee along with a band of refugee ships to regroup and rethink their strategy. 50,000 people are all that remains of the human population. And things look bleak. Their water supplies are low and their fuel cells dwindling. Emerging from the ruins of this people is a new leader who is 52nd in line to the presidency before the attacks but is now raised to the position of leader and must rise to the challenge this brings. But what they do not have is hope, that is until Commander Adama tells them of a tale whereby human ancestors left many years ago and discovered a place called Earth. All at once there is a purpose. A glimmer in the distance. Something to aim for. And with that the fleet set off. This series is about the people involved. Their trials and struggles. It is a show that constantly challenges us. The characters are far from perfect and it is gritty and bleak. And yet it hooks you.

What fascinates me is the themes that it addresses. For one there is RELIGION. Humans are polytheists. Cylons are monotheists. The humans worship many gods with names such as the Romans worshipped, like Aggatheon and Apollo. The cylons worship one. There are underlying themes of faith. Both sides believe blindly without any proof of their God's existence and yet most if not all seem fixed in their beliefs. There are few athiests in the show. It would seem in many ways that the events have been predestined. There are people and events in place that seem to be there by chance but the human cylon Caprica 6 is often quoted as saying that God has a plan and a purpose in all that happens.

Then there is the idea of ETHICS. The cylons have just destroyed billions of people in their attacks on the twelve home worlds. And yet in many ways they are sympathetic. They come across as kind and caring. Almost as a parent looks over it's child which is ironic as the humans created them. The children have grown up and are facing their parents as we all do at some point and realise them for the people they actually are. The humans are generally flawed and not one is ever all good. In the case of President Roslin she has made some very dubious decisions, threatening to throw people out of airlocks and keeping a human/cylon child to raise away from it's parents. Commander Adama has also made some questionable decisions and is responsible for many lives. They come from a place of good yet their actions are often grey morally. We have even seen the side of cylon occupied 'new' Caprica where humans have banded together to form factions of suicide bombers. This puts us on the side of current issues in today's world. Making the American people the cylons. Now that IS controversial. You are never really sure which side you should be on. And this makes great television.